VI. Managing Broker Duties

Ensuring Those Engaged Are Appropriately Licensed To Provide The Services

Section 3 of RESA requires that before a person may provide real estate services to or on behalf of another in expectation of remuneration, the person must be licensed under RESA to provide those real estate services. Section 2-1 of the Rules sets out the licence categories. Before providing trading services, rental property management services or strata management services, a licensee must be licensed for that particular category.

It is no longer the case, as existed under the Real Estate Act, that a licensee who was permitted by their licence to list and sell real estate could also engage in the management of rental properties.

Brokerages should ensure that all licensees are appropriately licensed to provide the real estate services offered by those licensees.

Additionally, the brokerage should ensure that only those real estate services for which the managing broker is licensed to provide are provided by the brokerage.

One of the most essential responsibilities of the managing broker is to ensure that the brokerage and all its licensees are properly licensed to provide real estate services, and that all licences are kept current. Managing brokers who allow unlicensed individuals to perform activities that require licensing on behalf of the brokerage may find themselves subject to disciplinary action by the Council.

It’s important to remember that managing brokers are responsible not only for the activities of licensees at their brokerage, but also for unlicensed individuals who are providing services to the brokerage. Therefore, in addition to ensuring that all licensees are appropriately licensed for the real estate services they are offering, the managing broker should also ensure that no unlicensed individual is providing services that require a licence.

Some licensees arrange to pay for their own assistant. However, even in these cases, it is the managing broker’s responsibility to ensure that the unlicensed assistant is not providing services for which a licence is required.

Practice Tip: To ensure that licensees you manage keep their licences current, enter their licence expiry dates into your electronic calendar, and set an alert to remind yourself forty five days* ahead of each expiry date. Then confirm with your licensee that they’re aware that their licence is due to expire and needs to be renewed. The Council sends licence renewal notices out approximately six weeks before the expiry date, so your forty-five-day alert is a good time to remind licensees to renew their licence promptly, before the expiry date has passed.

* Section 2-13(2) of the Rules states: For the purposes of section 12(b) [continuation of licence during renewal application process] of the Act, a licensee must apply for licence renewal no later than 30 days before the end of their current licence term.